Capcom have finally got around to releasing Lost Planet: Extreme Condition on the PS3 however at over a year old, is the PS3 ready for a port of this previously exclusive 360 game and does this version bring anything new?
In Lost Planet: Extreme Condition you play as Wayne, who has been found in the ice fields of EDN III in a coma. Once revived Wayne wants to piece his life back together and seek revenge for the death of his father.
EDN is in the process of being terraformed and during the somewhere along the line the local bugs have taken offence to this and now attack at any given chance. Armed with only a handful of weapons Wayne goes out into the snow to find his past with his only real protection for the elements being his suit which is constantly using up energy and once this hits zero you will die, so this alone adds a real feel of urgency to the game. Thankfully you are able to recharge your suit by killing Akrids and collecting their energy.
One of the impressive parts of Lost Planet is the huge mechanical weapons, or VS units. These are large vehicles that Wayne can get into and make use of their offensive and defensive capabilities. Some are able to fly, some can traverse many types of terrain and others are just walking weapons. You are able to pick up an assortment of weapons for each VS unit and, if you feel like it, grab one for Wayne to use, however this does slow down your movement.
There are 11 stages to play through and each one is huge, making you play through Akrid infested caverns, mountains and Pirate camps. Every few stages presents you with a boss fight, and these guys are huge, the Akrid bosses tend to be easier as they have obvious weak spots but they are also more fun than the Pirate bosses (who tend to be VS units) as the Akrid will at times fill the screen.
Though a PS3 title the graphics and functionality of this game are somehow worse than the Xbox 360 version, which doesn’t really make sense considering that this version has had plenty of time to be perfected. The graphics do not seem as clear as the previous release and worst of all, the slowdown is still downright terrible on the more action packed fight scenes.
The multiplayer is still readily available and thanks to the PS3 Network is easier to use than the Xbox 360. There are 16 maps to play through and up to 16 players on each map allowing for some pretty mad fights. Once connected, the multiplayer games really are where the fun lies in this game, like most shooters there is nothing quite like playing against real people to really spice things up.
The PS3 version does offer a few additions over the 360 original, namely a few extra levels for multiplayer and some extra playable characters, each with their own abilities, and while the maps can be downloaded through Xbox Live it’s still nice to see that the game does offer PS3 owners something extra out of the box given the wait they have had for this game.
Lost Planet: Extreme Condition unfortunately seems like too little too late at the end of the day, perhaps it would have been better for the devs to spend their time working on a new game rather than releasing a game which at the end of the day is an inferior version to the game previously released on the Xbox 360. If you can’t get enough of shooters and really need to try something new, then by all means give this a try, otherwise it is best to save your cash as there is certainly plenty on the horizon.
